Stopping attenuation

[Jer]

I want to ask because i am not sure... i did a citra pale ale and used mangrove jack m44... it started off a bit sluggish and i put it down to a too cool pitch rate... 17 degrees that i ramped eventually to 19 before it took off... for some reason it halted around 1014.. it was a really good brew and tasted fantastic... i mean i would have a bottle of my local brew... lacada brewery... west bay citra pale ale... then go on my own brew and think my own was far, far superior... even though the lacada beer is really good... just not quaffable
Last brew i did used the same recipe and ingredients.. and mash ptofile... but different starting temp for fermentation and it took off like a rocket and went all the way down to 1006... thebrew tastes different... the sweetness isnt balancing the citrus hops
Is it because the first brew had residual unfermentedd sugars that made it taste different? If so should i think about stopping yeast activity once i hit a specific hydrometer reading?

[Marshbrewer]

Did you mash both beers at the same temperature?

[Jer]

Yes exactly the same...

[Robwalkeragain]

Id expect around 75%-80% attenuation with that yeast so depending on your OG it might not be quite done. Cool pitching can lead to unhealthy yeast that doesn't grow properly, so a higher FG. Wouldn't be surprised if you're missing a bit of sweetness with an 8 point difference in gravity - and yep you're correct in saying it's the non fermentables that are contributing sweetness. I guess this time you'll just have a different beer.
Wouldn't dabble too much in stopping a yeast early, controlling it with mash temp and yeast choice is much more reliable.

[Jim]

I think it's fair to say that unless you're going to filter or pasteurise your beer (which I don't recommend) you can only slow down fermentation - you can't stop it altogether. It will ferment out eventually, unless you drink it very quickly!

[Robwalkeragain]

I think it's fair to say that unless you're going to filter or pasteurise your beer (which I don't recommend) you can only slow down fermentation - you can't stop it altogether. It will ferment out eventually, unless you drink it very quickly!

Potassium sorbate, Campden and cold storage would be enough to effectively drop it I think, but there's the issues of carbonation, no oxygen protection and the yeast not eating up volatile compounds after the ferment, which could result in a bad tasting beer.

[Jim]

I think it's fair to say that unless you're going to filter or pasteurise your beer (which I don't recommend) you can only slow down fermentation - you can't stop it altogether. It will ferment out eventually, unless you drink it very quickly!

Potassium sorbate, Campden and cold storage would be enough to effectively drop it I think, but there's the issues of carbonation, no oxygen protection and the yeast not eating up volatile compounds after the ferment, which could result in a bad tasting beer.

All true. I used to think you could do it just by keeping it at a serving temperature of about 12C, but it doesn't work - the yeast still gradually eats away at the remaining fermentables over several weeks.

[Kev888]

I tried potassium sorbate and campden in part of a batch - it did stop activity but unfortunately gave the beer a really unpleasant taint, so I won't be going there again. Very fine filtering or pasturation would work but still with the down-sides of having no live yeast in the bottled/kegged brew.

Possibly adding a non-fermentable sugar like lactose may help with sweetness, it won't replace the complexity of malt-based residuals but at least it could be tried in just a bottle or pint first to see if the results are any good. But my own feeling would be to chalk it up to experience and next time do what is possible to manage the attenuation with normal methods, like warm mashes, the grain types and yeast choice.

Its good that the higher FG in the first run was appreciated, though. Theres a lot of talk on the net generally that presumes high attenuation is the aim, often with clean yeast to boot... but if full flavour from the beer is wanted (rather than just the hops) as it often would be in this country, then residuals and yeast character are important.

[Jer]

Thanks for the advice all!
Much appreciated